And the world Crumpled

 We played today and 15 days ago, but paused mid-battle so it took two sessions.

The young heroes immediately told the Northwa Rhaglaw warriors to follow them, and charged up the hill, intending to try and reach and reinforce the refugees before they were surrounded, but as they were further away, a group of Hóll-folk cut them off and two seperate fights start. The Wuffingar are outnumbered and most fight defensively, except the youths, who go all in. Ulvarth got seriously wounded by an arrow from the Adûn-Man, gets patched together by Jádwigá, then cuts the head of a Hóll-folk youngling, before charging the archers behind and catching three more arrows from the Adûn-Man before going down. Jadwiga storms to his rescue, but a Hóll-folk Hunter drops his bow to attack her with a dagger. She eventually drops him, but cannot help her fallen friend as another hunter starts loosing arrows on her. Meanwhile the fight between the refugees and the pursusers is a bloodbath.

The fight swings back and forth with combatants falling on both sides, until a lone rider on a warhorse charge up the hill to hit the group fighting the heroes, in the rear; making them crumble. The Adûn-Man takes down the warhorse with a single shot and Dunhuet does not succeed to roll free, so she takes a lot of damage from the fall and getting squezed under her horse. She eventually gets free, but at this point the evil forces are fleeing.

Athanarig, Jádwigá and Hárjánáz walks amongst the wounded and scared refugees and learn that most of their close family and friends are dead. The house of Aslak was a particular target, so noone survived, and of their parents and loved ones, only Athanarig's nasty father survived. Everybody else is dead.

The heroes, warriors and refugees starts to patch up as Dunhuet puts down her wounded and screaming horse, and Jádwigá starts her work to help everyone. Three cannot be saved, and an experienced soldier puts them out of their misery, before heading back to Northwa Rhaglaw. There they report to Walvoric, and Hárjánáz gets invited to a council meeting to decide the best cause of action. Here, despite the protests of þeneslag and Walvoric, it is decided to evacuate the town and leave a small force behind to delay the enemy. 

Groups of 40- 50 civilians and 5- 10 warriors are to leave with 30 minute intervals with a screen of riders before the first and behind the last. It will take all next day to organise this however, and before it can be done, at midday, a force of 100- 200 Hóll-folk, Dunlendings and Orks arrive to block the main road out towards southwest with field fortifications while it starts snowing and a blizzard approaches. And as the leaders of the village meet to discuss options, the alarm is called in the north. They run up to see a force of 300- 500 Orks and Hóll-folk approach from the north, accompanied by something large that noone can put a name to, as they had not seen anything like it before. A large figure looming in the snow, as a house in height and length, but moving, longer, more slender, like a giant predator, snakelike, but with legs; covered in grey, white and blueish scales, with long teeth in a great, gaping maw. Teeth like swords, to rend and tear and crush, claws like steel to slash open unprotected bodies, red-golden eyes burning in the giant head. Everybody is stunned for a few seconds till Withberht shouts; "Gerse protect us, they exist! A Wyrm! A Wyrm of The Great Enemy! Gerse protect and shelter us!" It is a dragon directed by the Adûn-Man and a woman you assume is a Hóll-folk priestess.

þeneslag and Walvoric, exchange a few words, before Walvoric swaps axes with his son, who then runs to you and shouts, "Come on younglings; gather other youngsters! We must break out through the Hóll-folk to the south-west to save as young people as possible! TO ME WUFFINGAS! TO ME!" and starts gathering a few warriors and Hirdmen.

Timeline

9^th Hithui (November) Party sets off

11^th First snow

12^th Ambush, arrival at Nothwa Rhaglaw

14^th Ritual, Rhudaur’s army starts from Cameth Brin after a like ritual.

15^th Attack on Heimsted

17^th Battle on the Hill

17^th Late evening, refugees arrive at NR

18^th Midday Siege of Nothwa Rhaglaw starts

We played on the last day of February, all were present. I had slept too little for a few days and was giving in to exhaustion, and not at my best, but it was fun. My apologies.

þeneslag Walvoricsson

Walvoric Asbjörnsson

Withberht The Priest of The Shrine of Gerse

The youngsters reached Nothwa Rhaglaw and were heartily welcomed by Walvoric the Thegnongar of Nothwa Rhaglaw, who accepted Hárjánáz' service as he had his father's by accepting the gift offered at the table in the hall. Here they told their story to the derison of þeneslag Walvoricsson, who does little to hide his lack of respect for the "beardless children", though he does nod appreciatively when they relay how they killed the Trolls. Apart from father and son, the family consists of Tarjun the mother, Gunnhild Walvoricsdottir the 14 YO sister, and some smaller cousins of þeneslag. Hárjánáz is seated across from Walvoric, Ulvarð across from Theneslag, Jádwigá across from Tarjun, and Áthánáric across from the younger nephews and nieces who he regales with tales of his heroism killing the Trolls (much to the disgust of Theneslag). Tarjun and Jádwigá talk weaving, tablet-weaving and sewing, and Tárjun offered to show her special loom from the Adûn-folk in the west. She is from your kinsmen living on the border with them, hence her strange name and a loom of their construction.

They learn

þeneslag dislikes them, though they do not know why.

An Adûn-Man and three Elves passed through the Village (bygð) four days ago and went north. The Hunters could not track them much outside the further farms "because of the snow-cowered ground".


Walvoric decides to send a patrol towards Björnisteðr and Heimsteðr both, and put maximal guards on the town.


Next day, the heroes are woken before daybreak (which is late at this time of year), Jádwigá goes to talk to Odelárd the Healer (I mistakenly called her Bessandis in my exhaustion) who rued that there was no time to talk about enhancing herbs by using the magic of nature and to outright heal by it. Ulvarð talked to Geir Bairhið the leader of the Hunters' Lodge/Guild. Aþanaric went to the town smith to sell the Kite Shield and Greatsword they had found, but the smith- showing Drengrskabr- would only buy the shield, as the greatsword was too expensive for him to afford to pay them.


They then set out with the patrol going for Nothwa Rhaglaw. And around midday on the second day, they meet some of the families of the outlying farms of Heimsteðr fleeing for their lives, as they had spotted the village burning and Hóllr-Folk overrunning its defences. The heroes and men of Nothwa Rhaglaw hasten on with sinking hearts, aand as they come out of a small copse, they spot a group of around 40 people fleeing around 50 Hóllr-Folk and some crokked-looking humanoids towards a hill to make a stand. The 20 or so Humanoid figures with the Hóllr-folk are not as tall as the latter; with thick, strong, bowed legs and long arms. Their torsos are massive and strong and their long arms hang almost to the ground with big, claw-like hands and nails at the end. Their faces are large, foul, and animal-like - like a parody of Humans; hairy and almost furry, large, hairy ears and red eyes. In their mouth their canines has grown to the fangs of a predator. The creatures of your nightmares; Orks, and all of them under the command of a large, broadshouldered figure fitting the description of an Adûn-Man.

As the youngsters watch in surprise you watch arrows cut a fighter down, and the Orks catch up as he struggles to rise and hew him again and again till he is still- and then some.

The Adûn-Man

The hill of Battle

Experience Points 350 each